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New: Zoom B3n Multi-Effects

#3,443
Hevy T said:
Who is running their B3n stereo?

What amps are you using?

Do you separate them on stage or stack them?

I have a Traynor sb112 and thought getting a second one, what does the collective think?
Click to expand...

Not sure if this is what you are asking specifically but using a stereo (TRS) cable that splits into two mono (TS) plugs I run the stereo output of my Zoom into the left and right channels of an ART Pro MPA II. I use the ART to boost the signal from the Zoom B3n to a level the Carvin DCM 3800L power amp needs to see and then into the left and right channels of the power amp. I run the left and right channels of the Carvin into separate cabinets.

I do not run separate cabinets on either side of the room or stage - I just have the cabinets stacked on top of each other and have the pedal board close to the rack and cabinets to try and keep my foot print small. I really could not tell you if it makes a significant difference in sound when using stereo effects but as others have pointed out there are not a whole lot of stereo effects. As an aside outside of stereo chorus I have not found many stereo effects that mesh well with the low-end; just a personal opinion and not a judgment of others.

I do share the observation that it would be very nice if Zoom designed an effect to split the signal chain and thereby run a dry channel and a wet channel simultaneously. Then again, the arrogant bassist in me could probably find a way to justify a second Zoom B3n or a Zoom G5n to accomplish that. In all honesty I am not that advanced or creative a bassist to warrant such a purchase but it sure would be nice for Zoom to design an effect to split the signal wet and dry to keep me from making above said unwarranted purchase.
 
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#3,447
BrentSimons said:
Hey guys,
So yesterday i thought I would clear out a bunch of not so good patches so I did a factory reset...duh!
Now I'm guessing the firmware update I did a few weeks ago will need to be done again? Poop.
Brent
Click to expand...
i don’t think so, check to see what version shows when you power up. The easiest way to clean up patches you don’t use is either with GuitarLab, or ToneLib.
 
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#3,453
Johno Dunn said:
Does anyone have Geddy “Moving Pictures” era dirt they would be willing to share? Specifically, what OD pedal are you using, and what settings?
Click to expand...
This is just theory, but Geddy in that era used an... Ashly preamp + [I don't know] poweramp config, with a diode in the effects send/return section of the preamp. The used diode + OPAMP (I don't remember the exact models) combined while doing that in the preamp was basically a barebones tubescreamer, so any TS should be a good starting point
 
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#3,454
Das Jugghead said:
Not sure if this is what you are asking specifically but using a stereo (TRS) cable that splits into two mono (TS) plugs I run the stereo output of my Zoom into the left and right channels of an ART Pro MPA II. I use the ART to boost the signal from the Zoom B3n to a level the Carvin DCM 3800L power amp needs to see and then into the left and right channels of the power amp. I run the left and right channels of the Carvin into separate cabinets.

I do not run separate cabinets on either side of the room or stage - I just have the cabinets stacked on top of each other and have the pedal board close to the rack and cabinets to try and keep my foot print small. I really could not tell you if it makes a significant difference in sound when using stereo effects but as others have pointed out there are not a whole lot of stereo effects. As an aside outside of stereo chorus I have not found many stereo effects that mesh well with the low-end; just a personal opinion and not a judgment of others.

I do share the observation that it would be very nice if Zoom designed an effect to split the signal chain and thereby run a dry channel and a wet channel simultaneously. Then again, the arrogant bassist in me could probably find a way to justify a second Zoom B3n or a Zoom G5n to accomplish that. In all honesty I am not that I am that advanced or creative a bassist to warrant such a purchase but it sure would be nice for Zoom to design an effect to split the signal wet and dry to keep me from making above said unwarranted purchase.
Click to expand...

some of the effects have a blend. On the MS60B i thought three was a mix block? I've used the mix on a B2, and have a B1on but not looked for one. Mostly I'm to decide if I should dump everything else for a B3n and the B1on for backup. Maybe keep the B9 for control, B2 for bar gigs.
 
#3,455
So yesterday I had my vt deluxe pedal running into my b3n so that I could listen to it through headphones.

I had one of those old guy moments , when, with both pedals in front of me, I couldn't work out which pedal I was hearing - I was just really really tired and sick of trying to work out a decent solo for a song....

Anyways... when I was toggling the vt deluxe switch it kept swapping between a beautiful, deep rich tone, and a fairly farty unimpressive one.

Turns out, the rich tone was coming from my SVT patch on the b3n and the thinner tone was coming from the vt deluxe.

I was taken aback.
 
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#3,456
Yeah the best part of any vt pedal is a blend knob. Preferably set very low and gain/character knobs set high. Especially when combined with either a b3n or boss gt-1b. I like the latter just slightly better. But the VTDI pedal sounds very good with both when the blend is just below 9 o'clock.
 
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#3,457
BrentSimons said:
Super! Ill give it a try.
I would love to hear your thoughts about a side by side comparison of the B3n model vs your real B:Assmaster if you get a chance?
Thank you,
Brent
Click to expand...

Alrighty, Brent, had a chance to run them side by side and here's what I came up with. SUPER long post ahead, but hopefully the info will be relevant to you.

First, I have the silicon B:Assmaster, so I'm not sure how the germanium one compares.

Just raw A/B, the B3n model has deeper lows, even with no clean blended. The B:Assmaster, is definitely thinner, and really puts an emphasis on the upper-mids/highs. However, the character is very similar. There's a certain splatty-ness to the B:Assmaster that you can hear in the B3n, but it's still pretty different overall.

I prefer the B:Assmaster. I haven't done the A/B with a band or in a mix, but it just cuts better, and the switches make for nice options that can't be easily replicated with the B3n.

To me, the whole point of multi-fx units are their tweakability, so with that in mind, I tried to make the B3n sound more similar to the B:Assmaster, and here's what I came up with.

First, I ran it into the Low EQ set to HPF at around 80-120hz. That thinned it out like the B:Assmaster, but lets you tailor it to your own tastes more. Then I ran it into the splitter, set to 630hz, and really cranked the Hi level and dimmed the lows. This let the upper mids shine through a little more, and now all the harmonic content of the B:Assmaster came through in the B3n as well. However, now the highs we're a littler harsh, so I ran it into the High EQ set to LPF around 2.5k-3k. This tamed the extreme highs without putting much of a damper on the usable stuff.

Doing this, it sounds MUCH closer to the actual B:Assmaster. At this point, the differences were very subtle, and I'd be willing to bet that further tweaking would close that gap even more.

One thing I haven't nailed with the B3n is the touch sensitivity. It's definitely there, but the gate on the B:Assmaster just makes everything SUPER clean and synthy (staccato, not a clean tone) when you play with a light touch. The B3n also responds to touch in a similar way, but it just isn't as clean. Maybe the ZNR can help me with that.

The dry mixes also work differently. The B:Assmaster dry knob is still kind of distorted and brighter, whereas the B3n is your clean signal without any "enhancements."

I'll try and record some clips of the B:Assmaster and the B3n so you can decided for yourself. I'll try to get the standard Octave fuzz, as well as a clip with all of my additional processing.

I'd be happy to share a patch with you as well, just let me know.

Hope this helps!
Paul
 
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#3,458
primussucks9126 said:
Alrighty, Brent, had a chance to run them side by side and here's what I came up with. SUPER long post ahead, but hopefully the info will be relevant to you.

First, I have the silicon B:Assmaster, so I'm not sure how the germanium one compares.

Just raw A/B, the B3n model has deeper lows, even with no clean blended. The B:Assmaster, is definitely thinner, and really puts an emphasis on the upper-mids/highs. However, the character is very similar. There's a certain splatty-ness to the B:Assmaster that you can hear in the B3n, but it's still pretty different overall.

I prefer the B:Assmaster. I haven't done the A/B with a band or in a mix, but it just cuts better, and the switches make for nice options that can't be easily replicated with the B3n.

To me, the whole point of multi-fx units are their tweakability, so with that in mind, I tried to make the B3n sound more similar to the B:Assmaster, and here's what I came up with.

First, I ran it into the Low EQ set to HPF at around 80-120hz. That thinned it out like the B:Assmaster, but lets you tailor it to your own tastes more. Then I ran it into the splitter, set to 630hz, and really cranked the Hi level and dimmed the lows. This let the upper mids shine through a little more, and now all the harmonic content of the B:Assmaster came through in the B3n as well. However, now the highs we're a littler harsh, so I ran it into the High EQ set to LPF around 2.5k-3k. This tamed the extreme highs without putting much of a damper on the usable stuff.

Doing this, it sounds MUCH closer to the actual B:Assmaster. At this point, the differences were very subtle, and I'd be willing to bet that further tweaking would close that gap even more.

One thing I haven't nailed with the B3n is the touch sensitivity. It's definitely there, but the gate on the B:Assmaster just makes everything SUPER clean and synthy (staccato, not a clean tone) when you play with a light touch. The B3n also responds to touch in a similar way, but it just isn't as clean. Maybe the ZNR can help me with that.

The dry mixes also work differently. The B:Assmaster dry knob is still kind of distorted and brighter, whereas the B3n is your clean signal without any "enhancements."

I'll try and record some clips of the B:Assmaster and the B3n so you can decided for yourself. I'll try to get the standard Octave fuzz, as well as a clip with all of my additional processing.

I'd be happy to share a patch with you as well, just let me know.

Hope this helps!
Paul
Click to expand...
Unbelievablely cool Paul! :) I can't believe you went to such lengths! :hyper: I'm going to try this out over the weekend. Since I don't have a B:Assmaster to compare I might just check out some vids on YouTube to get an idea of what I'm dealing with. I've really never used fuzz in my sound before but I've become curious in my old age. ;) Maybe you have saved me $300!
Again thank you so much!
Best wishes,
Brent
 
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#3,459


Here's a quick clip with some dinky noodly riffs. It's not perfect, but hopefully it'll help.

The order for all of them is clean (Kallas/Warmoth Jag, Reeves C225, Greenboy Dually T, Heil PR40), B:Assmaster, B3n, B3n with additional processing. The last clip has a filter added to the end of the chain.

A few things I noticed. In addition to the High-mids ripping through with the B:Assmaster, it also adds a nice bump in the lower mids. I only tested the fuzz last night, without any of the clean blended in on either pedal, so I didn't notice that. I'd guess that this could be added with a PEQ, bumping the lo channel in the splitter, or just blending in more clean .

Recording direct I noticed that even with the HPF on the B3n, the Highs were still harsh, so I added an additional HPF around 3k in my DAW, but I'm sure it could be replicated in the B3n by some tweaking.

The B:Assmster really shines in the 3rd clip to me, which was an attempt to show that touch sensitivity and super clean gate. I haven't nailed that on the B3n

The filter (B3n Bass auto wah) at the end was mostly to goof off, but also to show that if you're adding another serious effect afterwards, the differences become less apparent.

Let me know if you have any questions!
Paul
 
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#3,460
BrentSimons said:
Unbelievablely cool Paul! :) I can't believe you went to such lengths! :hyper: I'm going to try this out over the weekend. Since I don't have a B:Assmaster to compare I might just check out some vids on YouTube to get an idea of what I'm dealing with. I've really never used fuzz in my sound before but I've become curious in my old age. ;) Maybe you have saved me $300!
Again thank you so much!
Best wishes,
Brent
Click to expand...

Honestly, I LOVE my B:Assmaster, but the B3n is so close that I'd say save your money. My board is currently made up of the B3n almost exclusively, save for a few utility pedals (tuner, gate) and an analog delay. I'm not finding any of the effects on board lacking for my purposes in a significant way.
 
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